First Rain

This morning I went out early and took a few pictures of the sun rising.  It came up above the hills in a sultry orange glow -- very pretty unless you knew that the unusual hue was due to the presence of smoke from the huge forest fire to the north.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky -- just the smoky greyness stretched out over all the blue.



By afternoon, though, things had changed.  When Bruce and I were coming back from grocery shopping in Angels Camp,  there were lovely purple clouds popping up overhead like giant mushrooms.  On the way home, I said to Bruce, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if it rained?"  And about 2 minutes later the first giant splops of rain hit the windshield.  By the time we got home, it was really raining.  As I pulled tarps over the hay, thunder was booming.  Joy!


I grabbed my camera and took pictures of the rain, the sky, the gutters, the trees, the geese -- everything.  So did Bruce.

The rain gutter with actual water coming out 

The rain was magnificent -- there is no scent like the fragrance of the earth, dry grass, bushes and trees when they are touched by water for the first time in months.  In the end, our rain gauge measured out that we had a whopping 0.03" of an inch of rain.  Then it stopped.

But for us here in this dry, dry land, this 0.03" was a blessing of the highest magnitude.  We were ready to build an ark!  We take what we're given, and then say "Thank you."

So...thank you!